Chapter 554: Count Mileidas

Grand Duke Peterson was in quite a state of distress. The decision he now had to make concerned the life and death of the Peterson Trading Company. He never imagined he would be backed into such a corner, and by a minor instructor from Dawn Academy with whom he had once done business. Because that minor instructor from Dawn Academy had now become the Grand Duke of Northland and a newly minted Sword Saint. Though they had once had cordial dealings, Grand Duke Peterson had always maintained an approachable and magnanimous air, condescending to show respect to the talented. But who could have imagined that this former academy instructor would now have become a figure so lofty that even Grand Duke Peterson would have to crane his neck to look up at him...

He looked once more at the letter that this former Dawn Academy instructor had just sent him. It contained only a single short line: You're next.

Grand Duke Peterson broke into a cold sweat. This was a letter from a Sword Saint, and those few simple words conveyed a multitude of meanings. Grand Duke Peterson understood perfectly: either he followed the example of the Chicked Trading Company and the Mayflower Trading Company by seceding from the Commercial Alliance and declaring independence, or he would soon face the armed might of the Norton Family. Even though the Peterson Trading Company's territories were now studded with fortresses and castles, with countless trenches dug and innumerable defensive positions established, Grand Duke Peterson still had not a shred of confidence. The Norton Family forces' reputation for conquering every stronghold and sweeping all before them was not mere bluster. Artillery alone was enough to leave anyone feeling helpless and at their wits' end.

Grand Duke Peterson was filled with bitter regret. If only he had been more proactive after his release last year, worked harder, and made more of a show—perhaps Lorist would not have sent him this death sentence. It was precisely because the Commercial Alliance had stubbornly insisted on continuing the war and refused to concede or negotiate peace even after the catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Bruvia City that Lorist had launched his military campaign this June, seizing four provinces in one stroke, severing the connection between the northern and southern provinces of the Commercial Alliance, and forcing the Mayflower Trading Company to move south and secede from the Alliance to declare independence.

Lorist writing this single line to Grand Duke Peterson likewise meant that the Peterson Trading Company must make its choice—life or death depending on which path Grand Duke Peterson chose to take. Refusing meant remaining bound to the Two-Headed Dragon Trading Company, which in turn meant becoming an enemy of Lorist and the Norton Family. Grand Duke Peterson had absolutely no confidence that he could withstand the Norton Family forces' assault on the trading company's territories. The Peterson Trading Company would soon face utter annihilation.

But if he wanted to secede from the Commercial Alliance and declare independence, as the Chicked Trading Company and the Mayflower Trading Company had done—well, one must not forget that the Peterson Trading Company's territories were practically on the doorstep of the Two-Headed Dragon Trading Company's. Grand Duke Peterson could guarantee that the president of the Two-Headed Dragon Trading Company and supreme administrator of the Commercial Alliance, Grand Duke Combelate, would vent all his fury upon the Peterson Trading Company. His own territories would then become an obvious buffer zone between the Free Alliance and the Commercial Alliance, and Lorist could simply sit back and watch the Commercial Alliance forces and the Peterson Trading Company forces tear each other apart—more entertaining than watching a play...

He was truly unwilling to accept this. When had the Peterson Trading Company become a mere chess piece to be pushed around at others' whim?... But unwilling or not, there was nothing to be done. When the Norton Family forces withdrew from Tenarig Province and Ceruniga Province in November, handing over the defense of those two provinces to newly arrived garrison troops from the Central-South Kingdom, they pulled the bulk of their forces back to Mawefolin Province in the environs of the Mana Hill Plains. Though this province technically belonged to the newly restored Cabasi Grand Duchy, thanks to the Norton Family forces it remained nothing but a barren wasteland. And the Norton Family forces assembling there posed an enormous pressure and threat to the Peterson Trading Company.

Mawefolin Province had originally been territory of the Trinbo Kingdom. After the Commercial Alliance conquered and annexed the Trinbo Kingdom, it divided the nation's fifteen prefectures into five provinces. Besides Mawefolin Province, there were Jerodana Province, Charbuco Province, Kuwadro Province, and RioRiga Province. Of these, Charbuco Province had become the Peterson Trading Company's territory, while the Two-Headed Dragon Trading Company's territory lay in RioRiga Province—because there was a massive quartz mountain there, the finest raw material base for glass production, which the Two-Headed Dragon Trading Company had claimed.

After the Norton Family forces had scorched Mawefolin Province into a wasteland, the Commercial Alliance entrusted Jerodana Province to the Peterson Trading Company as administered territory. Because if the Norton Family forces invaded again, the rear of Jerodana Province was the Peterson Trading Company's territory of Charbuco Province. Grand Duke Combelate was hoping the Peterson Trading Company would shoulder the heavy responsibility of defense on this front. Now that the Norton Family forces were garrisoned in Mawefolin Province, even a fool could understand who the next target would be...

Grand Duke Peterson simply could not make up his mind. If he did not secede from the Commercial Alliance, the Norton Family forces would certainly launch their offensive after the new year. The current problem was that the Commercial Alliance no longer had the strength to counterattack—it could only rely on desperate defense to delay the war, dragging things out until the Norton Family forces could no longer sustain their campaign. The heavy casualties and sacrifices that this strategy would entail were already beyond consideration; as long as those devastating losses made the Norton Family forces feel the Commercial Alliance's resolve to resist, making them unwilling to continue attacking the remaining seven provinces, that would be the greatest victory.

But Grand Duke Peterson harbored serious doubts about whether the Commercial Alliance's desperate defense strategy would actually work. After all, his own trading company was bearing the brunt. In all his dealings with the Norton Family, Grand Duke Peterson had personally watched how the Commercial Alliance forces had repeatedly suffered at the hands of the Norton Family forces. To put it bluntly, it was the Norton Family forces that had defeated and crushed the entire Commercial Alliance military, reducing the Alliance to its current state.

By that time, Jerodana Province and Charbuco Province would be finished as well.

Charbuco Province in particular—as the trading company's territory, the Peterson Trading Company had invested virtually all of its accumulated capital into its development and construction over the past decade. If he refused to secede from the Commercial Alliance, the Norton Family forces' assault would certainly not be gentle. Even if they managed to hold these two provinces through sheer tenacity, they would be ravaged beyond recognition, and the Peterson Trading Company's decade of painstaking effort would be completely wasted. By then, he feared the Peterson Trading Company would never have another chance to rise.

What tormented Grand Duke Peterson most was the contradiction: refusing to secede from the Commercial Alliance would likely mean a bad end for the Peterson Trading Company. But seceding and declaring independence would not bring much benefit either. Why had the Commercial Alliance, even in its current dire situation, gritted its teeth and refused to negotiate? There was no mystery to it. If they negotiated, the Alliance would lose far too much. First, the trading companies that had lost their territories would not rest easy—companies like the Forde Trading Company, the Livod Trading Company, and the Vesia Trading Company. Second, the territories the Alliance had lost would become a fait accompli, never to be recovered. Third, the Free Alliance that the Norton Family had helped establish had become a thorn in the Commercial Alliance's side—an irreconcilable mortal enemy. The Alliance could not stomach the humiliation of negotiating with the Free Alliance.

If the Peterson Trading Company betrayed the Commercial Alliance and declared independence, the Alliance's fury would certainly be unleashed upon its head. Their territories were adjacent. Grand Duke Combelate might not be able to deal with Lorist, but disposing of a Grand Duke Peterson was well within his means. Grand Duke Peterson could not be certain whether the Norton Family forces would send troops to his aid. But even if Lorist were willing to send reinforcements, the Peterson Trading Company's territories—reduced to a battlefield—would be ruined all the same. The Commercial Alliance forces had already demonstrated their capabilities fully in the war against the Central-South Kingdom coalition; when it came to the territories of traitors, they would certainly show no mercy.

Every path seemed to lead to death! Grand Duke Peterson let out a long sigh. Just then, a knock came at the door, and a servant entered to announce: "Your Highness, Count Mileidas has arrived."

"Oh, show him in at once."

The Mileidas family could be considered a prestigious house of the Commercial Alliance. Their family trading company's main business was operating large inns, and they were among the very few within the Commercial Alliance who favored peace and opposed war—because the outbreak of war meant catastrophic losses for the Mileidas Trading Company. Take the Doslege Grand Hotel in Morant City, for instance. Once it had been thriving, packed with guests from every direction. But after the Commercial Alliance's relations with the Central-South nations soured, the Doslege Grand Hotel had become deserted, eventually being converted into a warehouse and raw materials processing facility. For a trading company like the Mileidas family that operated in a single industry, war was the thing they loathed most.

Count Mileidas stormed into the study: "Chek, why didn't you oppose Grand Duke Combelate's proposal to merge the trading company territories this time? It's obviously that old fox harboring ill intentions—reaping the benefits while dumping the consequences and costs of defeat onto our heads! Are you really willing to hand over the territories you've painstakingly developed over the years to those bloodsuckers to share?"

Chek was Grand Duke Peterson's nickname. He and Count Mileidas had been childhood friends, and the two families also had some distant blood ties.

"Sigh, why are you still so quick-tempered?" Grand Duke Peterson counseled helplessly. "Mid, actually Grand Duke Combelate proposed merging the trading company territories with the war against the Norton Family in mind. The Commercial Alliance now has only seven provinces left, and the situation is dire. That's why Grand Duke Combelate plans to first abolish the fiefdoms of all the landed nobles across the seven provinces and unify them for resource allocation and utilization. This is all in order to better defeat the Norton Family forces and prepare for a final counterattack..."

"Save that for the ghosts—a final counterattack?" Count Mileidas scoffed, coldly exposing the cruel reality. "Do we even have the strength for a counterattack? Our territory has been shrinking with every battle—from thirty-six provinces down to seven, and you're still talking tough. The southern provinces are all gone. The Chicked Trading Company and the Mayflower Trading Company have also betrayed us and seceded. The ten newly established garrison corps and two field armies were swept away entirely, and now everyone's hiding in their territories like turtles, yet you have the nerve to talk about counterattacks. Can you even muster the will to fight?"

Grand Duke Peterson smiled bitterly. "Mid, people have to cling to some hope. Even if we know it's empty words, it at least gives the heart something to hold on to. Besides, I still have one trading company field army, and I'm in the process of forming two more garrison corps. As long as we weather this most difficult period, the possibility of a counteroffensive is not entirely out of reach. Just as Grand Duke Combelate said—persevere, and no matter how long the night, dawn will eventually come. We once held out for one hundred and sixty-seven years, bearing witness through our efforts and sacrifices to the collapse and disintegration of that monstrous northern empire. If we persevere now, there's no reason we can't rise from the ashes and reestablish the Commercial Alliance's glory..."

"You believe that old fox Combelate's nonsense?" Count Mileidas mocked mercilessly. "The title of the greatest nation on the Galentea Continent, held for a mere two or three years. The mightiest army in the central and southern regions, swept away like ashes. The old man is nothing but empty words now! Talk is cheap—have you even looked at the map? What was it that allowed the old Commercial Alliance to hold out for one hundred and sixty-seven years against the invasion wars of the Krisen Empire in the north? It was the support of all the nations in the central and southern regions and the proceeds of commercial trade! It was the dedication of the people on the Mana Hill Plains and in Morant City who were willing to sacrifice their very lives for freedom!

Now, a single blockade could bring us to our knees. We still have territories in seven provinces. If we hold them, we can be self-sufficient. But let me ask you all something: where do you plan to get enough salt?"

"Uh..." Grand Duke Peterson was taken aback. He genuinely hadn't thought of this. The Commercial Alliance's current territories did not border the sea. In the past, salt had been a neglected commodity within the Alliance. The wealthy consumed superior rock salt purchased from outside, sold by various trading companies. Those without means would take a bucket to Hidden Gold Bay, scoop up seawater, and boil it down—bitter, but it wouldn't kill you. Strictly speaking, salt was the only daily necessity within the Commercial Alliance that had not been monopolized by any single trading company.

"Don't think you can afford to be complacent just because your trading company's warehouses have rock salt reserves. I believe that old fox Combelate is far more alert than you. His proposal to merge the trading company territories this time very well might be aimed at that stockpile of rock salt in your warehouses. Everyone knows that your trading company's forces once emptied the Wayago Kingdom's salt warehouses clean back in the day—weren't they all mocking your trading company for not letting even something as cheap as rock salt go? That much rock salt is enough to feed the hundreds of thousands in your trading company's territories for a decade or more. Who could have imagined that your rock salt would now become a scarce commodity for the entire Commercial Alliance..."

Grand Duke Peterson was somewhat dazed. He knew about the salt warehouse operation from back then. The Wayago Kingdom's only notable product was rock salt—besides that, there was nothing of value. After the Peterson Trading Company's convoys had delivered grain and supplies, most of the wagons were empty on the return trip, so the steward had ordered them to load up all the rock salt from the warehouses. The other trading companies had indeed mocked them for it at the time, but who could have imagined that this rock salt would now be worth a hundred times its former value...

"I don't understand why you agreed to that old fox's territory merger proposal! Aren't you worried that all your investments in the trading company territories will go to waste?" Count Mileidas bellowed in fury.

Ever since the Commercial Alliance had lost its southern provinces, and the Chicked Trading Company and the Mayflower Trading Company had successively seceded and declared independence—on top of the Central-South nations signing mutual defense pacts with the Free Alliance and deploying troops to garrison Ceruniga Province and Tenarig Province, effectively tearing up their trade agreements with the Commercial Alliance and reimposing border blockades—the morale of the Alliance's trading companies, big and small, had plummeted. No one still harbored hopes of victory. It was at this juncture that Grand Duke Combelate had proposed abolishing trading company territories, planning to bring the territories of all seven provinces under unified Commercial Alliance administration to centralize all manner of supplies to counter the Norton Family forces' invasion, preparing for a prolonged war of resistance. The Commercial Alliance would never bow its head in defeat!

For those trading companies that had already lost their territories, Grand Duke Combelate's proposal was exactly what they wanted, and they threw their support behind it wholeheartedly. But for those trading companies that still held territories in these seven provinces, the proposal would damage their interests. However, Grand Duke Combelate had already decided to provide one hundred and fifty percent compensation to those trading companies whose territories were to be merged, and the proposal barely passed. Grand Duke Peterson had also cast his vote in favor.

But some trading companies vehemently opposed the proposal, and the Mileidas Trading Company was the most resolute among them. The loss of the inn business had hit the Mileidas family hard, forcing them to channel all their energy into developing their trading company territories. They had only just managed to make those territories generate some returns when the Commercial Alliance wanted to merge them—no wonder Count Mileidas was flying into a rage...

"Just look at the map. The Norton Family forces are practically at the city gates. The trading company territories can't be saved anyway, which is why I don't care whether they're merged or not. Getting compensation is better than having everything ravaged by war..." Grand Duke Peterson revealed his bitter predicament.

"Compensation?" Count Mileidas snorted coldly. "You still believe that old fox Combelate's words? Didn't you hear what he said? This time, the compensation would be at most twenty percent upfront, with the rest to be paid only after winning this war. Because the urgent priority right now is to resist the Norton Family forces' invasion..."

"Are you out of your mind or did you bump your head? Can this war even be won? In a hundred years? Two hundred years? Is there even a chance of victory?" Count Mileidas angrily slammed his palm down on the map on the table, and the gust sent Lorist's letter to Grand Duke Peterson fluttering into the air. "Hm, what's this? 'You're next'—what does it mean? Who wrote it... Lorist... Blood Sword Saint..."

"I'm already overwhelmed and facing imminent disaster..." Grand Duke Peterson helplessly recounted his dealings with the Norton Family and Lorist. "See? This is the death sentence from the Blood Sword Saint..."

Count Mileidas burst out laughing. "A godsend! This is wonderful—we can secede from the Commercial Alliance!"

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